Los Angeles County Announces 34 New Deaths Related to COVID-19

LOS ANGELES:- The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health (Public Health) has confirmed 34 new deaths and 1,260 new cases of 2019 Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19). Twenty-eight people who died were over the age of 65 years old, four people who died were between the ages of 41 and 65 years old, and one person who died was between the ages of 18 and 40 years old. Ten people had underlying health conditions including nine people over the age of 65 years old and one person between the ages of 41 to 65 years old. One death was reported by the City of Long Beach.

To date, Public Health has identified 89,490 positive cases of COVID-19 across all areas of LA County, and a total of 3,205 deaths. Ninety-three percent of people who died had underlying health conditions. Of those who died, information about race and ethnicity is available for 2,982 people (99 percent of the cases reported by Public Health); 42% of deaths occurred among Latino/Latinx residents, 28% among White residents, 17% among Asian residents, 11% among African American/Black residents, less than 1% among Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander residents and 1% among residents identifying with other races. Upon further investigation, 32 cases reported earlier were not LA County residents. There are 1,556 people who are currently hospitalized, 26% of these people are in the ICU and 18% are on ventilators. Testing capacity continues to increase in LA County, with testing results available for over 990,000 individuals and 8% of people testing positive.

“To everyone who is facing the sorrow of losing a loved one to COVID-19, we are thinking of you every day and we are so sorry for your loss,” said Barbara Ferrer, PhD, MPH, MEd, Director of Public Health. “We continue to work with partners and skilled nursing facilities to make sure they are as safe as possible for both the people who live there and the people who work there. As community spread is increasing in our communities, adherence to infection control practices remains critically important in these facilities. Efforts include ensuring that staff are provided with appropriate personal protective equipment and everyone who can is using a face covering when around others. To date, Public Health has distributed over 4.8 million masks and almost 1 million N-95 masks to nursing homes and other long-term care facilities.”